Scars Can Witness
by shan21
Summary: He was a man – a living, breathing one – and that scared Vera more than any mindless, flesh-eating freak. He had a crossbow in his grip and he looked like a hunter stalking his prey. Daryl/OC starting mid-season 2.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I know what you're thinking. Mary Sue, right? I promise you that I've tried my best to create two original characters with imperfections, struggles, and strengths that make them worthy of the show. Hopefully you'll agree and keep reading.

This is going to be a long one—28-30 chapters total. I've already written 24 chapters and I'm working on the last few now. I have two fabulous beta readers who are diligently working to help me make sure that each chapter is the best that it can be. Thank you Dannylionthe1st and Walking Primrose! I will probably end up posting about 2 chapters each week, maybe 3.

If you're curious, the title comes from _Titus Andronicus_. The full line is "My scars can witness, dumb although they are, that my report is just and full of truth."

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the TV show or the comic series.

~0~0~0~

**Chapter One**

Vera never imagined that she'd find a can of sardines so delicious. Then again, she also never thought she'd use a crowbar to smash in the skull of a reanimated corpse. So, all things being even, this wasn't such a terrible surprise. She greedily ran her tongue along the side of the metal tin.

"Gross."

Vera spared a glance to her left. Dani wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Just eat your spam and stop judging, Princess," Vera retorted.

Her sister rolled her brown eyes but obediently went back to her own breakfast. Vera tossed the sardine tin into the trash and took another moment to savor the metallic aftertaste. Finding this house had been a stroke of luck, especially since the pantry was still stocked with a fair amount of canned goods. She could kill for a decent cup of coffee, but beggars couldn't be choosers. It had been three days since either of them had anything substantial to eat. When they stumbled across this place last night they had foolishly overindulged, consuming nearly half of the contents of the small pantry; soup, beans, tuna fish, all gone in an orgy of desperate hunger. But now it was time to get smart, to ration. Maybe they could hole up here for weeks. Maybe by then everything would blow over and the world would go back to normal.

Vera shook herself free of that daydream. There was no end in sight. And now the two of them were alone. Dani was only sixteen and had all the common sense of a child, but she had to be an adult now. Last night Vera had set up a makeshift bed for her at the bottom of the pantry. The bedrooms upstairs had only one exit. Plus, they wouldn't be able to hear someone enter the house. Her sister was tiny, barely five feet tall, so she was able to curl up just fine and hide away if anything went down. Vera felt more comfortable keeping watch with a loaded Winchester in her hands.

Dani dropped her can into the garbage.

"What are we going to do today?"

Vera shrugged.

"We should probably do another sweep through the house. What we found in the back room was useful, but we haven't looked through the boxes in the basement yet and some of the clothes in the closets looked basically new," she suggested.

"I want to check the bathroom. If there's any deodorant in there, I'll cry for joy," Dani said.

She twisted her long honey-colored waves into a loose bun and grinned. Vera rolled her eyes but returned the smile. She ran her fingers through her own darker hair, wincing when they became tangled in a web of knots. For a second she allowed herself to imagine how good it would feel to clean the grease and dirt from her long mane, but she quickly dismissed that thought. She wouldn't be accompanying her sister to the bathroom. She wasn't ready to face the mirror. She didn't want to see the jagged scar that she was sure stood out in stark white against her olive skin. She'd seen the mark on her thigh enough times to guess how bad her cheek must look.

Dani had just started off towards the stairs when a loud noise caused them both to freeze. The younger girl's wide eyes darted towards the front door. Vera's gaze drifted towards the next room where she knew the shotgun leaned against the pantry door. It meant getting closer to the front of the house, closer to the intruder, but she couldn't leave the shotgun behind. If it was a freak, she'd blast it in the head. If it was a human, well, she couldn't risk the person taking the gun if he or she found it.

The creaking sound of footsteps on the old wood floor continued.

"Go," she mouthed to Dani. She jerked her head to the right, indicating the rear door.

Dani was glued to the spot. Vera gritted her teeth and gave her sister a shove. Dani took a few stilted steps backwards, shot her sister one last pleading look, but finally turned and backed away.

Vera watched to make sure she was really gone before she inched her way back towards the pantry. The footsteps were closer now. Too close. Her own bare feet were silent on the wooden floors. Vera's fingers barely grazed the stock of the shotgun when she realized that whoever was here was in the next room over. She eased herself into the pantry and closed the door as far as she could without making it creak. She trained the nose of the gun outward. And she waited.

A few seconds later the intruder entered the room. He was a man – a living, breathing one – and that scared Vera more than any mindless, flesh-eating freak. He had a crossbow in his grip and he looked like a hunter stalking his prey. Her palms were sweaty against the smooth wood of her weapon. She could hear her breathing grow fast and shallow.

The man looked like he was going to pass right through the room. He was halfway to the kitchen when he paused, sniffed the air, and backed up a step. Vera saw him reach into the trash bin and lift out the can of sardines. She almost cursed aloud. The man sniffed the tin and dumped the remaining fluid out. Certain now that the house was occupied, his eyes scanned the room until they landed on the partially opened pantry.

_Damn it_.

Vera gripped the Winchester and put her finger on the trigger. He was approaching now, crossbow trained on her hiding place. He reached out with his free hand and touched the door. There was no time to think. Vera kicked out her foot and swung the door open and fired a shot over the man's shoulder.

"Shit!" he cursed. Before he could get both hands back on his bow she had the shotgun pointed at his chest.

"What are you tryin' to do, you crazy bitch? Attract every walker for miles?" he spat.

"I got another round in the chamber. Drop it," she ordered.

The man tilted his head to the side. He continued to peer at her, sizing her up. Instead of dropping his weapon, he brought his other hand up and placed his finger firmly on the trigger.

"Now, why would I do a stupid thing like that? So's you can finish me off while I'm unarmed?" he asked.

Vera felt her breath quicken again.

"Because if you shoot me with an arrow, I'll sure as hell have enough in me to pull this trigger, and when I miss, I tend to miss low."

She jerked the barrel of the gun down until it pointed to a sensitive area of his anatomy. The man grunted.

"I ain't gonna shoot you, girl. I'm lookin' for someone," he said.

"Sorry. I haven't received any visitors lately. Look elsewhere," she said, still not taking her finger off the trigger. She saw the man grit his teeth.

"You sure? I'm lookin' for a little girl. Goes by Sophia?" he asked.

She took in his overall appearance. He was wearing a plaid shirt with the sleeves torn off. A layer of dirt and grime covered his skin. He was a redneck, a good old boy. He looked like the other men they'd encountered. Hardly someone who would be entrusted with a child.

"What do you want with a little girl?" Vera sneered.

The man's trigger finger twitched. His eyes narrowed. Vera was certain that he was going to shoot her. But instead he lifted his crossbow off his body and laid it on the counter in one swift motion.

"She went missin' from our camp. Her mama misses her," he said.

He peered around her at the pillow and blanked on the floor of the pantry.

"That spot looks a little tight for you, if you don't mind me sayin'. You sure you ain't got a little stowaway with you?"

Vera stood up, keeping her barrel pointed at the man's chest.

"Enough questions. I haven't seen any Sophia, so get lost."

The man stared her down, but Vera didn't waver.

"I'm gonna leave, but first I gotta take my bow back," he said.

He had his hands up in a show of surrender and moved slowly. Vera allowed him to move, shotgun trained on his back.

"Go out the back," she ordered, keeping him moving forward.

She marched him outside and once they were down the steps she gave his back a nudge with the barrel of her Winchester.

"Keep going and don't come back," she said.

He flipped her the bird and muttered, "Thanks for the hospitality," before continuing across the yard. Before he could make it to the tree line, a figure burst forth from the woods. Without hesitation, the man cocked his crossbow and aimed.

"Don't shoot!" Dani squeaked, holding her hands out in front of her body.

"Damn it, Dani!" Vera shouted, rushing towards her sister, gun still aimed at the man between them.

"This the little thing you keep in that cupboard?" he asked.

Vera answered him by jabbing his side with her gun.

"_Fuck_, I ain't gonna shoot her," he snapped.

He grunted angrily but didn't make any further fuss, lowering his crossbow. Satisfied that their lives weren't directly in danger, Vera whirled on her sister.

"What the fuck are you doing back here? I told you to go!" she shouted.

"I heard a single shot! I figured you took care of whatever it was," Dani said defensively.

"You girls alone out here?" he asked.

Vera saw Dani about to reply and cut her off quickly.

"None of your business, redneck. Just keep moving," she snapped.

"I'm only askin' 'cause my people have a camp a few miles out. Women, children, even a doctor," the man said.

Dani's eyes lit up.

"Sorry, not interested," Vera said before her sister could respond.

Dani glowered at her, but Vera just ignored her.

"Look, it ain't my business, but the world ain't no place for two girls alone anymore," he pressed.

"Who said we're alone?" Vera countered.

"Vee, we might need that doctor if—"

"Shut up, Dani. We don't need any help, let alone from some hick. Get going," she told the man.

"Vera, what are you doing? Daddy's gone! We _do_ need help!" Dani said desperately.

Vera lost her patience.

"Dani, just shut the fuck up! Do you remember what happened the last time we trusted a man who wandered into our camp?"

She knew it was a low blow. The spark went out of Dani's eyes completely. She didn't curse, didn't shout, didn't so much as whimper. Wordlessly, the younger woman ran towards the house. To her horror, Vera felt her eyes grow damp. Blinking furiously, she turned back to the stranger.

"What are you looking at, Pocahontas? Grab your bow and leave," she barked.

The man growled at the nickname, but started back towards the tree line. Vera felt a moment of remorse. Whether it was over what she'd said to Dani or her harsh treatment of this man, she wasn't exactly sure. She felt her resolve weakening.

"If I find a little girl called Sophia I'll send her your way," she called out to the retreating figure. He paused and turned back to her.

"We're at a farm about 8 miles east," he replied.

She nodded, and then watched as he disappeared into the woods.

~0~0~0~

Daryl didn't tell the others back at the farm about the two sisters in the abandoned house. He wasn't sure why. The older girl seemed pretty keen on keeping her distance from outsiders, and who was he to press the issue?

Still, he couldn't seem to push them from his thoughts. They didn't look much like sisters, now that he thought about it. The older girl was maybe twenty. She looked fiercer, and not just because she'd been the one with the gun. Her features were darker, her face more angular, and her body was tall and lean. Her sister was petite and still had a hint of baby fat even with the constant movement and lack of food that he was sure they had endured. They were both young; too young to be alone, especially nowadays. The younger of the two couldn't have graduated high school yet and the older girl didn't look too far beyond that.

Clearly they had managed to take care of themselves just fine so far, and yet that night images of walkers surrounding the old house flooded his drowsy mind, robbing him of sleep. And then there were the older girl's words rolling around in his brain. _'Do you remember what happened the last time we trusted a man who wandered into our camp?'_ All kinds of possible meanings floated through his mind, each one worse than the last. He had a sickening suspicion that whatever she meant had something to do with the ugly scar on her cheek.

The next morning he awoke feeling like he hadn't slept at all. He told Rick and T-Dog he planned to head for the ridge to get a birds-eye view of his sector of the woods, and took off on one of Hershel's horses before Shane had a chance to make another dumb-ass remark.

The ridge was only a mile off from the old house, but he resisted the urge to head that way. Damn girls could take care of themselves. At least the one with the gun could, and she'd keep the other one in check.

Pushing the girls from his thoughts, he vowed to keep a sharper eye. He found Sophia's doll down by an old creek. She could be close. He had to get to that ridge so he could get a real good look. He was so focused on the woods around him that he missed what was straight in his path.

What followed happened so fast that he didn't have a chance to do anything to stop it. The snake snapped, the horse reared back and threw him. He went tumbling down the ridge and one of his arrows managed to lodge itself straight through his side. He tried to bind his wound without removing the arrow, but it still hurt like a bitch when he tried to climb back up the steep hill. He grasped at roots and dirt, but as he neared the top he could feel his head swim and his grip loosen. He clawed at the air. His body twisted, and fell back down the rocky peak.

As Daryl's world turned to black, he almost laughed at the realization that those two girls had probably outlived him.

~0~0~0~

**End Note**: Every time you don't review, a walker eats a puppy. Please, think of the puppies.

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	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Thanks to kschu02, Emberka-2012, GatorGirl99, and my two anonymous reviewers for leaving me such encouraging feedback (and saving puppies in the process). I'm also happy to see so many people following for updates. I promise you that there's a lot more Daryl coming in chapter three if you stick with me!

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**Chapter Two**

"So, you still aren't going to talk to me?" Vera asked impatiently.

Dani turned her nose up and moved silently passed her sister. She had assumed her sister's grudge would have dissipated after a good night's sleep, but that was apparently wishful thinking.

"Look, I know you think I made the wrong decision, but we didn't know that man. He could've been lying. He could be part of the same group as before. He looked just like them."

"Or he could've been telling the truth and we missed out on a big camp with a bunch of women and children and even a doctor," Dani snapped. She glared down at her granola bar and added, "Dad would've gone with him."

Vera felt her face grow hot. She clenched her fists.

"Yeah, well in case you've forgotten, Dad's gone. I make the decisions now," she said coldly.

Dani glanced up at her sister, and Vera saw pure hatred in her eyes.

"You're such a bitch," she spat.

Gritting her teeth, Vera turned away and pretended not to notice the sound of Dani's chair scraping back against the wood floor. She didn't turned around until she heard the back door slam. A few minutes passed during which Vera gathered the items they'd collected from the house last night and spread them out on the kitchen table. She tried to occupy herself by organizing them, but she gave up the task halfway through. Taking a deep breath, she wiped her bangs off her forehead and closed her eyes. This was ridiculous. The apocalypse was not the time to throw a tantrum. She was the adult. Dani would spend the next hour not talking to her, and then—

"Vee, there's a horse in the yard!"

What the _fuck_?

Vera made her way to the backyard where, sure enough, there was a huge brown horse. Dani was grinning like it was Christmas morning. Vera gave the horse a wary glance. Dani had taken horseback riding lessons since the age of twelve, but Vera got thrown once at ten and never tried again.

"Where'd she come from?" Vera asked.

"The woods," Dani replied, saddling up.

"No shit _the woods_. Which direction?"

Dani spared her sister a glare but pointed east.

"Someone might come looking for her. We should set her loose."

Dani's jaw dropped.

"Are you determined to send away every good thing that comes our way?" she demanded.

"Yes, Dani. Now you understand my reason for living," Vera said sarcastically.

For several tense moments, neither girl said a word. Dani's mouth was set in a firm line. Finally, she grabbed the reigns.

"I'm going for a ride," she said.

Vera blinked.

"Excuse me? You're _what_?"

"You heard me. I'll be back within the hour."

"Dani, don't be a fucking moron. You don't even have a weapon with you!"

Her sister gave no indication that she'd heard a word. She carefully guided the horse towards the tree line.

"Dani! STOP!" she shouted.

But Dani already had the horse moving at a slow trot and a second later both girl and horse disappeared into the woods. Vera stared after them in shock. Dani threw her tantrums, sure, but she'd never _left_. Occasionally Vera would leave her at camp to check something out, but Dani had never ventured out alone. She couldn't shoot worth shit and she was too small to defend herself if anything got too close for the range of the shotgun.

How could her sister do something so stupid? Their father trusted Vera to watch over her, and now she had to go and do _this_. The worst of it was that Vera felt mostly responsible. If she hadn't been quite so harsh, so unfeeling, Dani wouldn't have snapped.

Vera let out a furious shriek. Angry tears found their way down her cheeks, following the line of her scar. Should she run after her? Although their father had taken her hunting, she'd never learned to track. She'd be running blind.

Wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand, she cursed under her breath. Crying wouldn't do either of them any good. It was time to act. She would pack up all their things. Anyone could follow the horse's tracks right back to them. And now a stranger knew where they were and that they were alone. He might show up with some friends. The two of them and their one shotgun would be no match for a group of people. They had to move on.

She hurried inside and grabbed their packs, stuffing them with whatever her frenzied mind could think of—the crowbar, some canned food, can opener, toiletries, clothes, the first aid kit they'd scavenged from an abandoned minivan. They had an extra duffle bag. No, not extra. It had been their father's. Now it was theirs. She looked over the pile of supplies they'd scavenged from the house after the stranger left yesterday. A thick coil of nylon rope, a book of matches, two flashlights, a long knife, a roll of duct tape, and a half a dozen other things that might come in handy. Once she was done she set the bags by the door and sat on the steps, waiting for Dani to return.

How long had it been? Twenty minutes? Longer? Vera growled and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.

Why couldn't Dani understand that she had to be careful? Dad wasn't there to protect them. She was the responsible one now. Maybe she'd made the wrong decision when she told the intruder to go away, but it was the _safer_ decision, of that Vera was sure. Risks got you killed.

Another ten minutes passed and Vera started to panic. What would she do if Dani didn't come back? There was no telling how far she could have gotten on horseback. The horse could have thrown her. She could be hurt. She might be incapacitated, without a weapon, freaks closing in on her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a distant rustling sound. A second later, Vera thought she heard galloping. She prayed her ears weren't deceiving her. Sure enough, Dani burst forth from the woods on horseback. Vera felt herself stand up and start running towards her sister as if her body was on autopilot. The blood was pumping in her veins. She could hear it thudding in her ears. Dani dismounted and started towards her, eyes wide with urgency, but Vera didn't notice. She felt the hot tears trickle from her eyes again, and a mixture of relief and fury overtook her.

Without a word, she rushed towards her sister, and when she was within a foot of the smaller girl she raised her hand and brought it down across her cheek. A vicious _crack_ sounded in the clearing and Dani stumbled backwards. She brought a hand to her reddened cheek before staring wide-eyed at her sister.

"Do you have any idea how worried I've been?" Vera screamed.

Dani continued to rub her cheek. She shot Vera a hateful glare.

"You leave all the time," she said.

"To get supplies. To hunt. To keep us safe," Vera argued.

"I just wanted to get out of here for a while. You don't have to freak out about it," Dani retorted.

Vera tried to slow her breathing, but she was still shaking when she turned her red eyes on her sister. "What would I do without you?" she asked seriously. "Did you ever think about that, Dani? What would I do if you had gotten hurt out there? If you had died?"

Dani opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Vera sighed, finally calming down to the point where her heart didn't feel like it would beat right out of her chest. It wasn't like her to get hysterical.

"We're leaving this place. I've packed our bags. Let's go," she said calmly.

Dani reeled back.

"Wait, we're leaving? Why?"

"This place isn't safe. That guy knows where we are. It's time to move on."

Dani looked jolted, as if suddenly remembering something.

"Well. You don't have to worry about _that guy_ anymore, so we don't have to leave."

Vera felt a sickening feeling in her stomach. "What are you talking about?" she prompted.

"He's hurt. That's why I came back here so quickly. I saw him lying at the bottom of a ridge, out cold. Looks like he's bleeding pretty bad. But apparently you're ready to pack up and go so I guess we should just leave him there."

Vera frowned. Dani's expression held the same urgency it had when she first rode back into the clearing, but there was something challenging in her eyes.

"You're right. He's not our problem," Vera said quietly. It was the safer decision, so it was the right one, Vera told herself. Risks get you killed.

Seeing that her sister had called her bluff, Dani gave up all pretense of not caring about the stranger.

"Oh come on, Vee! We can't just leave him. He's freak food down there," she blurted out.

"Dani—"

"No, Vee. I can't leave him," she pleaded. "He's too big for me to pull him up alone, but together maybe we can do it." Dani interpreted her sister's silence as weakness and took the opportunity to continue. "We know where his camp is," Dani said, as if reading her mind. "He said eight miles east. Let's just help him head that way, give him back to his people."

Vera didn't say anything for a moment. Her mind was spinning. They could spy on the camp, make sure the stranger was telling the truth. If he wasn't, they'd drop him there and leave. If he was, well, maybe this was her chance to reverse her decision from yesterday. They really might need a doctor.

"All right, we'll try to get him," she relented. "But grab your pack. We're not coming back here."

~0~0~0~

**End Notes**: Gandhi once said, "You have to be the change you wish to see in the world." I'm pretty sure that he was talking about how you have to review fanfic if you want to see it continue and improve. Yup. That's totally what he meant. And you wouldn't want to disappoint Gandhi, would you?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Thanks to everyone who favorited and followed this story! Thanks also to Emberka-2012 for reviewing again and to the anonymous guest who left such an extremely thoughtful analysis! I really loved reading your reactions.

Hey, Daryl's back! Hope you enjoy!

~0~0~0~

**Chapter Three**

"Jesus, he's got an arrow in his side."

The two sisters peered down at the stranger's body. The florescent fletchings on the end of the arrow stood out brightly against the mud.

"I didn't notice before," Dani said.

"Well, I don't wanna just pull him up and maybe tear a bigger hole in him," Vera said, biting her lip. "Plus, I don't know if we can lift him up this hill, even between the two of us."

Her wheels were turning as she took stock of their supplies. _150 feet of nylon rope, a plastic tarp, a couple of bungees from that old minivan, and a big horse._

"I think I can rig up a pulley system," she said finally.

"Of course you can," Dani said, sounding exasperated and relieved all at once.

Vera found the sturdiest looking tree to wrap the rope around, eliminating friction by placing the plastic tarp between the bark and the nylon. Once that anchor was in place, she tripled up, murmuring, '_Force divided by 2 to the N' _under her breath. Using two more anchor trees would divide the necessary pulling force exponentially. Then it was simply a matter of MacGyvering a harness from the bungees and one end of the rope, and attaching the other end of rope to safely around the horse.

"You stay up here with our four-legged friend. I'll play rescue worker," Vera said, wiping her sweaty bangs from her eyes.

"Vee—"

"Don't argue with me, Dani. You know I can't ride a horse anyways."

"No, Vee, there's a freak!"

Vera spun around to see a decaying body lumbering towards the unconscious man.

"_Shit,_" she exclaimed.

Dani thrust the Winchester at her, but she shook her head. "Don't want to draw more of them," she whispered, reaching instead for the crowbar sticking out of her pack.

She half slid, half tumbled down the steep hill, hoping to catch the freak by surprise, but by the time she righted herself, he was almost on top of the stranger.

"Hey!" she shouted. "Over here, you bastard!"

The freak, apparently not one for taking the easy meal, jerked up and turned to face her. He was an especially ugly one, she noted. Not that any of them were particularly handsome, but this one was missing half his face.

"That's right. Come to mama," Vera cooed.

The thing started moving faster now, fingers outstretched and itching to tear into her flesh. Vera swung the crowbar and took a chunk out of its shoulder. It stumbled back and Vera took the chance to whip the curved metal end into the creature's right temple. Unfortunately, she'd aimed too far to the front of its head to hit its brain, and the barbed end of the crow bar was now lodged in the thing's skull. When she tried to yank it out, she ended up pulling the entire rancid body towards her. She stumbled from the momentum and heard Dani scream from above her as the creature fell on top of her.

"Don't worry! I got this!" Vera shouted. "Stay up there! Don't you dare come down!"

In reality, she felt much less certain when the thing continued to claw at her.

"No, Vee! There's another one!" Dani called out.

Vera managed to glance to her side and caught sight of a second freak shambling towards her. She used all of her strength to thrust back on the crowbar, managing to push the first monster back a foot. But the pressure of the metal on the freak's skull still wasn't hitting its brain. Her stomach turned as she watched its right eyeball pop out and dangle by a few oozing nerves.

She heard the blast of the shotgun but didn't have to turn to know that Dani had missed. The girl had terrible aim in the best of situations, not to mention the fact that she was out of range for a kill shot.

Screaming with effort, she managed to roll her body until the momentum turned her undead attacker onto his back. She was on top of him now, crowbar still jammed in his temple, eyeball drooping down by his torn cheek. It was still clawing at her, and the other freak was closing in, drawn to the noise and completely ignoring the unconscious man a few feet away.

Another desperate yank on the crowbar freed it from the freak's skull and without a second's pause, she reared back and smashed the weapon down on its forehead. A wet _crack_ told her that she'd broken the bone but she wouldn't be satisfied until she saw brain. She brought the crowbar down two more times in quick succession and the creature's hands fell to its sides.

"Vera, it's right next to you!" Dani screamed. The younger girl let another round off, missing again.

Vera barely had time to look up before the second freak was on her. She kicked blindly, screaming when she felt it's fingers close around her ankles. She was on her stomach, pressed against the body of the freak she'd just dispatched, and she wasn't sure she had the strength to flip herself around. It was gnawing at her boot. It was only a matter of time before it found her ankle.

Just then there was a loud whooshing sound, and then a heavy weight on her back.

"No!" she screamed, kicking frantically as the creature covered her body.

"It's dead," another voice called out. A male voice.

She tensed, then exhaled. If he'd wanted her dead, she'd be dead. She closed her eyes and let her head drift forward, only to have her bangs brush against the detached eyeball of the freak underneath her.

"Oh god. I am in the center of the grossest sandwich in the history of the universe," she groaned. "Little help?"

She heard a deep grunt followed by footsteps. Then a familiar voice spoke.

"Thought you didn't need any help from a hick."

Vera cringed.

"To be fair, I saved you first," she said.

He didn't reply, but she felt the weight being dragged off of her.

"Holy crap! Did you pull that arrow out of your side?" Dani shouted down.

Freed from her freak sandwich, Vera rolled over and sat up to stare up at the stranger. It looked like Dani was right. The man was heavily favoring his left side, which was now arrowless and oozing blood.

"Oh, Jesus. You really did pull the arrow out," Vera gasped, scrambling to her feet.

"Needed the ammo. That walker was on top of you. Couldn't get there in time," he wheezed.

He bent over to pull the arrow from the freak's head, and when he tried to straighten back up, he stumbled forward suddenly. Vera's hands shot forward and grabbed his elbows to steady him.

"Hey, just take it easy, okay Pocahontas? My sister and I will take care of things from here," Vera said. There was no bite to her words this time.

"Don't call me Pocahontas," he replied, but his words were garbled.

She felt the man slump against her, and she pitched forward under his weight. At the last second she managed to right herself, and gently lowered the man to the ground. He was unconscious.

"Dani, lower the harness and first aid kit," she called out.

Her sister followed the request without comment. Vera had nothing in the way of medical training, but she assumed that the basic goal should be to clean and dress the injury. The hardest part was navigating his arms out of his sleeveless button-down shirt. She tossed the garment to the dirt and pulled up his filthy tank to reveal the wound. She winced in sympathetic pain. The edges of the gash were torn and bleeding.

She used all of the tiny antiseptic wipes on the entry and exit wounds, and still the wound looked filthy. Sighing, she decided to move forward and slathered on as much antibiotic ointment as she could, followed by a healthy layer of gauze pads, and finally an Ace Bandage wrapped tightly around his entire torso.

"That'll do, pig," she muttered to herself.

She grabbed him under his arms and dragged him as gently as possible towards the steep hill. She was able to hook them both into the makeshift harness by molding her front to his back. Once she had the first aid kit, crowbar, a few dead squirrels caught by the man, and his crossbow all firmly in her grasp, she called up to Dani.

"All right. Get your new pet to pull forward _slowly_."

Foot by foot, they rose up the steep ridge. Vera kept them from smacking against the rocky incline by keeping herself facing the surface and walking them up with her feet. It took only a couple of minutes for them to crest the edge.

"Fuck you, Merle," the man murmured. Vera squinted back at him, but he was still out of it. She unhooked the harness and checked his bandage. He wasn't bleeding through it yet, which she guessed meant she did a decent enough job patching him up.

"God, Vera, I thought you were dead!"

Dani blindsided her with the force of her hug, and she had to turn quickly to avoid falling backwards onto the man. She felt her sister's tears soak through the sleeve of her T-shirt and brought her hands up to stroke the younger girl's hair.

"I'm okay," she whispered. "We're going to be fine."

"I tried to shoot it but I missed!" the girl sobbed.

"Shhh, you did great. We all made it out," Vera murmured into her ear. "Now help me get this guy into the saddle."

It wasn't easy, but they managed to hoist him up there with minimal stress on his injury. He slumped forward onto the horse's mane. Vera urged her sister to sit behind the man to make sure he didn't slip off. After repacking their supplies and adding them to the horse's load, they were off, headed east.

~0~0~0~

**End Note**

Reviews are like bolts from Daryl's crossbow: silent, quick to dispatch, and highly effective at getting results! Make Daryl proud; leave a review!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**: Thanks to repeat reviewers Emberka-2012, kschu02, and GatorGirl99 and to new reviewers Melanie, OhWickedOne, and blueballad! Getting feedback keeps me going!

This chapter is short, but things are amping up! I'll try to have chapter five up by this weekend.

~0~0~0~

**Chapter four**

The first thing that Daryl became aware of was the stabbing pain in his side, followed closely by the sensation of movement. He was moving at a slow but steady pace, but his legs weren't on the ground. Then he heard voices.

"Why do you think he has a doll in his belt?"

"Maybe he has trouble sleeping without it."

He heard snickering.

"How much farther?"

"Beats me. I left my GPS at home."

"Don't be sarcastic."

"I dunno, Dani. He said eight miles east. We should be close."

"Do you think he's gonna be okay?"

"Arrow didn't pierce an organ or anything. So maybe."

"I hope so."

'_Well, isn't this just the fuckin' tops, Darylina!'_

Daryl didn't have the strength to lift his head. He knew who was talking. He also knew that his brother wasn't actually there.

'_Shut up, Merle,' _he thought.

'_Saved by a couple of little girls! Ya gonna braid each other's hair later? Trade stories about when ya got yer first period?'_

Daryl's head lolled against horse's mane.

'_If I didn't have this hole in my side, I'd kick your ass,'_ he retorted in his head.

'_Speakin' a ass, you found two fine fillies here, boy. The older one in partic'lar. Shame about that cut on her cheek, but I guess you could just face her in the other direction.'_

"Shut UP, Merle!"

"Holy crap!" he heard the girl behind him squeak. He felt her scramble off the saddle and land beside the horse with a soft thud.

"Hey, Pocahontas, you awake?"

The horse stopped moving. Daryl's tongue felt thick and cottony in his mouth. He tried to muster up a cutting response, but it came out an unintelligible groan.

"Who's Merle?"

"Beats me. He said the same thing when you were pulling us up the hill."

Daryl managed to get his hands under himself and push up against the saddle.

"He's sitting up!" the first voice squeaked again.

Daryl heard the pump action of a shotgun.

"Not too fast there, stranger," the second voice warned.

"What d'you think I'm gonna do? Fall on you?" he spat, finally gaining control of his speech.

He turned to see the older girl pointing the shotgun at him. "I'm gettin' some strong déjà vu. You wanna point that thing somewhere else for a change?"

"Just take it slow and steady," the girl ordered.

The younger girl reached up to help him dismount. He sneered at her outstretched hand and hopped down by himself, groaning on impact. He immediately felt for his weapon and came up empty.

"Where's my bow?" he grunted.

"In the duffel," the older girl replied.

He stared down at her, eyes narrowed, sizing her up. Her finger was outside the trigger guard. She wasn't going to shoot him. He reached for the duffel and pulled out his bow, strapping it around his body and wincing at the pain in his side when he did so. He pulled up the edge of his wife-beater to examine his wound and blinked in surprise when he revealed a bandage.

"I'm not exactly Florence Nightingale, but I did my best," the older girl said.

Daryl wasn't feeling particularly charitable, what with the pounding in his head and the throbbing in his side, so instead of saying thank you, he remarked, "You found my horse. Useless fuckin' thing."

"You're welcome," his nurse replied.

"So, are we close to your camp?" the younger sister asked.

Daryl squinted up at the trees in surprise. He hadn't put two and two together before, but now it was clear that they were heading east, bringing him back to Hershel's farm. He chewed his thumbnail while he scanned the woods for a marker. He saw the edge of a stream in the distance and immediately oriented himself.

"Another mile that way," he said, pointing southeast.

"Who needs GPS," the older girl said smugly.

Ignoring her comment, his eyes caught on the line of squirrels hanging from the duffel. He wouldn't make it a mile on foot without some protein. He immediately snatched one of the creatures off the line and tore into it with his teeth.

"DUDE!" the younger girl squealed. "We have food!"

"This _is_ food," he managed to say around a mouthful of raw squirrel.

Both girls recoiled at the sight, and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm guessin' you don't want any?" he asked sarcastically.

"I think you just made me a vegetarian," the younger girl muttered.

"You have blood on your face," the older girl said dryly.

Daryl licked lips, hiding a smirk when the younger girl turned a little green. He knew there was still blood caught in his goatee, but he left it. He ignored their offer to help him back up onto the horse, insisting that he would walk the rest of the way. He almost regretted it when he felt the stabbing pain every time his left foot hit the ground, but gritted his teeth and kept moving. They walked in silence, the younger girl guiding the horse. Finally, they reached the clearing and the top of the old farmhouse came into view.

"Whoa," the younger girl said softly. She pulled the horse aside, back into the thick woods.

"What're you doin'?" Daryl asked.

"We're hanging back until we're sure your story checks out," she replied.

"What story?"

The older girl crouched down in the weeds and pushed some branches out of the way, giving her a clear view of the farm.

"The story that your camp is full of women and children."

"And a doctor," the younger one added.

"First sniff of a lie, and we're out of here."

"And we're takin' your horse with us."

"You can have that mangy old thing. She threw me down that damn hill," Daryl snarled.

"I'm sure you deserved it," the young girl said, petting the beast gently.

Ignoring her, he stepped through the brush and into the edge of camp, favoring his left side. His left arm was swinging limply, giving him the momentum to drag his right foot forward with every other step. He heard shouting, and then Shane and Glenn came into view, followed shortly by Rick and T-Dog. They each had their weapons raised.

"Is that Daryl?" Glenn asked incredulously.

Daryl glared at them. Sure, he might've looked a little rough, but couldn't these idiots tell the difference between the living and the dead? _Apparently not_, he thought when Rick aimed his directly at Daryl's head.

"That's the third time you pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger, or what?" he spat.

They all visibly sagged in relief. Then a shot rang out and Daryl felt his head snap to the side. A burning pain seared across his temple, and his world turned to black again.

~0~0~0~

**End Note**: You know who doesn't ever write reviews?

Zombies.

So, if you really think about it, every time you read a chapter and don't leave a review, the zombies win! Do you _want_ the zombies to win?


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: So, I know that something weird happened when I posted the last chapter and it didn't show up for nearly 24 hours. I tried reuploading it but nothing worked. Must have been a website glitch. So anyway, please make sure to read chapter four first if you couldn't yesterday.

_Ridea_ - I'm glad you like Vera's snarkiness. She really can't help herself! And I will do my best to keep up with the end notes too.

_ooglicunt_ - Thanks for your comments about Daryl's POV. I wasn't sure how well it turned out. And Vera is so much tougher than me. I would die in the first 48 hours of a zombie outbreak.

_Emberka-2012_ - Thanks for checking back and patiently waiting for the chapter to load. And you are very perceptive in your predictions…

I got a ton of new follows and favs with the last update, so thank you!

~0~0~0~

**Chapter Five**

Vera and Dani watched as four men ran up to the stranger, weapons drawn. Vera frowned and squinted through the branches. Had the man been so delirious that he took them to the wrong camp? Then she heard a young Asian guy ask, "Is that Daryl?"

_So, not Pocahontas_, she thought in amusement.

Daryl bit out some smartass comment about the guy with the handgun just shooting him already when a real gunshot sounded. Vera had no idea where it came from, but it looked like it hit Daryl right in the skull.

Dani screamed in horror, and Vera's hands shot out to cover her sister's mouth. Luckily, no one seemed to hear her. The man with the handgun was screaming. "Noo! Nooo!"

"What the hell is wrong with these people?" Dani whimpered.

Vera silently shook her head. She was about two seconds from telling Dani to saddle up and take them the hell out of here when suddenly Daryl was speaking.

"I was kidding!" he slurred.

He was alive. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. What did she care for this man? It wasn't exactly like they'd had time to bond on the walk to the farm. He was unconscious for most of it, and when he was awake they were either trading verbal barbs or aiming weapons at each other.

Daryl slumped against the men, unconscious again, just as a whole group of people were ran towards them, women and children included.

"Oh my god! Oh my god, is he dead?" a blonde in a cowboy hat asked frantically.

"Unconscious. You just grazed him," the man with the six-shooter replied.

"What the hell happened to him?" the Asian kid asked. "He's got blood all over his mouth!"

Dani arched an eyebrow at her sister. _Should we make ourselves known now_? Vera pursed her lips and held up her index finger. _Give it another minute._

The men began dragging Daryl back towards the house but one of them hung back. He stooped to pick something up.

"Guys, isn't this Sophia's?" the black man asked, holding up the doll from Daryl's belt.

And that was when Vera knew for sure that the man had been telling the truth. He really had been looking for a little girl called Sophia. His camp _was_ full of women and children.

"Let's go," she whispered to Dani.

Dani led the horse forward by the reigns. Vera carried her own pack on her back, and together, they stepped out into the clearing.

"Who's that?" a woman with long dark hair much like Vera's called out.

The shirtless man with the shotgun whirled around, dropping Daryl's left arm. The Asian boy rushed to keep the injured man from hitting the ground again.

"Whoa! Hold it right there!" the shirtless man said, pointing the barrel of his gun at them. "Who are you and where'd you come from?"

"They're just girls, Shane. For God's sake, lower your weapon," an older man in a fishing hat admonished.

"It's okay," Vera said, holding her hands out in front of her as a show of surrender. "We found your man. Fixed him up for you," she explained.

"They have the horse," the Asian boy pointed out.

"Then why didn't they walk out with him?" the shirtless man pressed.

"We had to be sure your camp was safe," Vera said calmly.

"Well, so much for first impressions," the black man chuckled darkly. "We don't normally shoot each other."

"That's good to know," Dani said.

"Cut the small talk, man," the shirtless man said.

Vera sighed impatiently. She would have treated an intruder the same way, but it was time to clear this up.

"We're not lying. Look at his bandages. I did that," she said, gesturing at Daryl's torso.

By now the rest of the group had reached them. An older man in suspenders stepped forward and pulled up the end of Daryl's tank. His finger traced over the bandage.

"You have medical training?" he asked.

"None whatsoever," Vera admitted.

He turned to the two men holding Daryl up.

"Bring him inside the house. I'll need to examine the wound myself." He turned back to Vera and asked, "What happened to him?"

"His horse threw him down a ridge. Arrow went through his side," she supplied.

The old man frowned. He paused for a moment before replying, "It's not his horse. It's mine."

Vera raised her eyebrows and watched the man follow Daryl and his handlers up the porch and into the house, leaving the rest of the group standing in the yard.

"Well, I suppose this is as good a time as any for introductions," the man in the fishing hat said. He extended his hand and said, "Dale."

Vera took his hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Vera. This is my sister Daniella."

"Dani," the girl corrected.

"T-Dog," the black man replied, nodding. "You don't sound like you're from around here."

"We're originally from Pennsylvania. Moved to Atlanta when I was twelve," Dani said.

The rest of the group took turns introducing themselves, and Vera knew that she would forget every name within a few minutes. When it came time for the shirtless man to introduce himself, he was short and to the point.

"Shane Walsh. You girls alone?"

Dani looked to her sister, wordlessly asking if they should be honest. Vera nodded.

"Mom died at the very beginning of all this. We lost Daddy a few weeks ago," Dani said.

"Walker get him?" Shane asked.

"He's gone. Does it matter?" Vera snapped.

Shane tilted his head to the side. Then he shrugged. "Guess not."

"Did you happen across a little girl out there? Blonde. About yea high?" the man named Dale asked.

Vera shook her head. "Sorry."

The woman with the short hair whimpered and buried her face in the shoulder of the other woman, Lori.

"It's okay, Carol. Daryl found her doll. That means he was close."

Vera bit her lip. She didn't know what to say. She was no good at comforting words. She couldn't even console her own sister half the time.

"You ladies bring your own tent?" Dale asked.

Vera nodded, gesturing to her pack.

"You can set her up right between Rick's and T-Dog's."

She nodded again and got to work. Dani mostly held things in place or helped tie the knots. Vera had always been the one who was good at putting things together. Even when their father was still with them, it had been her job to set up the tent. She had a mind for puzzles.

"So, how old are you two?" Dale asked.

He was sitting in a lawn chair on top of the RV, looking down as Vera assembled their home.

"Sixteen," Dani said.

"Nineteen," Vera followed up. "Or maybe twenty."

Dale frowned. "Don't you know?"

"Sort of lost track of the days. Birthdays aren't really important anymore, are they?" she replied with a shrug.

The old man smiled incredulously.

"Of course they are. You're too young to stop caring about birthdays."

"I stopped caring a few birthdays ago, to be honest. Never even had a sweet sixteen, unlike Princess here," she said, gesturing at Dani. The younger girl made a nasty face.

"We'll settle this right now. When's your birthday?"

"November third," she said, humoring him.

"You're kidding," he laughed.

"Nope. What's the joke?" she asked, straightening the last pole.

"Congratulations. You're officially in your twenties as of yesterday."

She stepped back from the tent and bit her lip. Twenty years old. Suddenly her birthday _did _feel like a big deal. Her mother had been twenty when she got pregnant for the first time. Vera couldn't imagine the world ever going back to a time where starting a family was possible. And Dani might not even live to see her twenties.

"I'm going to go tell the ladies. They're cooking up a nice dinner for everyone tonight. Maybe they can pull together a birthday cake."

Dale's voice pulled Vera from her musings. She frowned.

"Don't be silly. It's doesn't matter," she said firmly.

But Dale continued to climb down the ladder from the RV as if he hadn't heard her. At the same moment, T-Dog approached from the direction of the house.

"How's Daryl?" Dani asked.

"Hershel stitched him up good. He'll be fine in a couple a days."

Again, Vera couldn't ignore the rush of relief that she felt at the news that Daryl was all right. As if sensing this, T-Dog spoke directly to her.

"Doc said without your first aid he would've needed plenty more stitches, not to mention what he would've done to the wound if he'd had to climb up that hill on his own."

"_If_ he even made it up," Dale added.

"Well, during my glorious rescue attempt, a freak got the upper hand and Daryl managed to kill it using the arrow that was sticking out of his own body. So, I think he might've done okay on his own. But thanks," Vera said.

T-Dog's eyes widened. "_Shit_. The Dixons have got to be the most resilient motherfuckers I ever seen."

"Dixons? Plural?" Dani asked.

"Daryl had a brother. He's not with us anymore," Dale said uncomfortably.

"What hap—"

"Long story. Maybe some other time," T-Dog said, all traces of mirth suddenly gone.

Dani nodded mutely. Both men walked back towards the house, but not before Dale gave Dani a comforting squeeze on the shoulder.

"I'll see what I can do about that birthday cake," he told Vera.

She tried again to discourage him, but he just waved her off. When she turned back around, Dani was already climbing into the tent. She unrolled her sleeping bag and grinned back at her sister.

"Home sweet home," she said.

Vera didn't return the smile.

"For now," she replied.

~0~0~0~

**End Note**: The New England Journal of Medicine recently performed a double blind study* in which it was determined that people who leave reviews live 5 years longer than those who don't**. For your own health, you should probably leave a review.

*conducted in my imagination

**margin of error – 5 years


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Thanks to Nienna, Alina, elephantsin1, GatorGirl99, and Emberka-2012 for reviewing! Special thanks to the anonymous guest who is leaving me the most kick-ass reviews ever!

~0~0~0~

**Chapter Six**

Dinner was an awkward affair. Vera was still learning names, but there were clearly _house folk _and _tent folk_, and apparently there was bad blood between the two. Things were slightly less awkward at the "kids table," as Vera had come to think of it. Hershel's daughters and the boys, Jimmy and Glenn, sat at a smaller table with Vera and Dani. Beth and Dani hit it off immediately and were soon absorbed in small talk. However, even the two younger girls sensed the tension in the room after Glenn asked if anyone played guitar. Patricia's meek response of, "Otis did," was enough to cause any and all chatter to die down.

The sound of forks scraping on the china filled the silence well enough until the end of the meal when Carol excused herself to bring a plate to Daryl. Shortly thereafter, Dale stood from his chair and cleared his throat.

"'Most of us can remember a time when a birthday – especially if it was one's own – brightened the world as if a second sun had risen.'"

"You quotin' Faulkner again?" T-Dog said, walking up to them.

"The great Irish writer Robert Lynd," Dale corrected.

"Ah, of course." T-Dog grinned.

"Whose birthday is it?" Jimmy asked in surprise.

"It's Vera's twentieth," Dale announced.

Vera felt her cheeks get hot when everyone turned to look at her, grinning. A few people (namely Beth and Dani) applauded. Even Shane managed a smile.

"It's not a big deal," she said uncomfortably.

"Really? Because I didn't think that cakes were baked except on special occasions," Dale said with a twinkle in his eye.

She frowned. "You didn't."

"Nope. Patricia and I did," Lori said, her chair scraping back from the table. She returned from the kitchen with an ornate china cake stand. Something dripping with chocolate icing sat atop the pedestal.

"Now, we had to improvise a few ingredients, so it might not taste like grandma's recipe," she added.

The cake was cut and passed. It might not have been perfect, but who could tell the difference after so long without baked goods? Still, the taste of something so sweet after long months of canned food was a shock to the system, and pretty soon, the group was acting like a classroom full of eight-year-olds on a sugar rush.

Vera was just glad that everyone seemed more interested in the cake than her. She still felt out of place among these new people. The transition from spending so long with only Dani for company to jumping in with this large group was jarring, like the shock of the sweet chocolate multiplied exponentially. The sudden sweetness of these people hurt her teeth.

"You know, I think that Irish guy might've been on to something," T-Dog said, exposing a few chocolate-covered teeth when he smiled.

The resulting laughter covered the noise of Vera's chair scraping back against the floor.

"Where are you going?" Dani asked.

_Away from here_, she thought. "I'm going to see if Daryl wants any cake," she covered smoothly.

Scooping a second slice onto her plate, Vera barely made it two feet from the table before she was stopped by Lori.

"I can take it to him, if you'd like. You just sit down and relax," she said, giving Vera a friendly smile.

Vera almost grimaced. All she needed was a little peace and quiet. "Really, I don't mind," she said.

It came out sounding like a plea. Lori seemed to hear the plaintive tone to her voice, because she took a step back and nodded. As Vera slipped into the hallway, she heard Lori helpfully distracting everyone from her exit by loudly lauding Patricia's baking abilities.

She entered the wrong room first. A little boy lay in a too-big bed. He was so pale that his skin almost matched the sheets. His entire torso was bandaged, with little spots of red showing through. He was asleep, or maybe unconscious; Vera couldn't tell. Careful not to make a sound, she backed out slowly and tried the other door.

"I already ate. Leave me be," an angry voice called out.

Yup. This was the right room. She pushed the rest of the way inside and Daryl came into view. He was lying down, blankets up to his shoulders, facing away from her.

"Yeah, but did you get _cake_?" Vera asked.

Daryl turned quickly, surprised to see her there. Instead of saying hello, all he said was, "Cake?"

Vera held out the plate to him. "It's my birthday. Or was. Yesterday."

He frowned. "What the hell? You been here all of two hours and they're already throwin' you a birthday party?"

"What can I say? I'm lovable."

"As a porcupine," he grumbled.

He eyed her suspiciously, almost as if he expected this to be an elaborate poisoning scheme, but he took the plate anyway. When the first bite of chocolate hit his tongue, he closed his eyes. His second bite was enormous, and he let out a noise somewhere between a moan and a sigh.

"Should I leave you two alone?" Vera teased.

"You might hafta," Daryl said around a mouthful of cake.

He sat up straighter in order to attack his dessert, and as he did so the blankets settled around his middle. Vera's eyes were drawn to his bare skin. What she noticed immediately wasn't his muscle tone or his tattoos; it was his scars. His body was crisscrossed with pale lines, faded and thin. Her hand unconsciously went to her cheek, tracing over her own scar. She winced. The spot wasn't tender anymore, but she could feel the width of it and imagined how it must look.

Daryl's eyes snapped open when he went for another bite, and Vera quickly averted her gaze. "Vera. That's your name, right?"

When she glanced back at him, he was tucking the blankets up under his armpits.

"Yes. _Daryl_," she said pointedly.

He smiled. It was lightning quick, and then his signature stoicism settled back across his face. "So, what d'you think of the natives?" he asked.

Vera paused. She'd only been on the farm for a few hours, but in that time it seemed like she and Dani had already been accepted by nearly all of its inhabitants. It ran so contrary to everything she'd known for that past weeks that she found it almost unsettling.

"They're friendly," she said, finally.

He nodded. "Fuckin' exhausting, right?"

The comment was so unexpected that she laughed.

"Yeah," she agreed. She instantly felt a pang of guilt. These people had shown her nothing but kindness, and here she was complaining. "Dale's nice," she added.

"Old man's got nothin' _else_ to do but stand around all day payin' people compliments," Daryl scoffed.

Vera gave him a disapproving _'tsk'_ before adding, "We can't all be stoic huntsmen."

He arched an eyebrow. "Oh? 'S'that what I am?"

She felt her cheeks get hot. She wasn't sure exactly what brought the blush on, but it had something to do with the barely-there smirk on his lips. "I should go. Sounds like they're cleaning up out there."

It wasn't a complete lie. The sound of dishes being cleared was apparent. The moment was broken and Daryl went back to his cake. Vera felt her cheeks return to normal on the short trip back to the kitchen. She found some of the women doing dishes, but Dani was nowhere to be seen.

"Do you know where my sister is?" she asked.

Lori turned away from the sink. "Uh, with Carol I think? She offered to show Dani around the RV. You wanna join them?"

"No, put me to work. What can I do here?"

Lori shook her head. "Uh-uh, birthday girl. You go get some rest. You've already done enough, bringing Daryl back."

The mention of sleep had an almost magical effect. Vera instantly felt the full weight of her exhaustion. Nothing seemed better than the thought of her sleeping bag. Giving Lori a grateful smile and one more 'thank you' for the cake, she exited the house.

"Vera," a voice called out.

She turned to see Shane approaching from one end of the porch.

"Yeah?"

He stopped and tucked his thumbs into the waist of his jeans.

"Rick and I are taking some people out for gun training tomorrow. You in?"

"I already know how to shoot," Vera dismissed. "You should take Dani. Princess couldn't hit the broadside of a barn."

She started down the steps when his voice stopped her again. "You ever shot anything besides that old shotgun?"

She turned around and smirked. "No. That a problem, officer?"

"Well, it's just that it ain't the most practical weapon, 'specially if you're overrun. Gotta reload after every other shot. Come out tomorrow and I'll get you trained with a handgun."

She had to admit, he had a point, and she told him as much.

"And bring your sister too if you want," he added.

Nodding, Vera turned and made her way back to the tent. She unzipped it to find Dani already lying down. The girl turned her head at the noise.

"We have shooting practice with the two cops tomorrow," Vera announced unceremoniously.

Dani frowned. "What? You know I can't shoot."

"That's why you need training, genius," Vera retorted. "What happens when I need you to cover my ass?"

Dani stared at her sister for a second longer, then nodded and put her head down again. Vera could tell that she had wanted to say something else. Her body was tense and unmoving, but it wasn't from sleep.

"What's wrong?" Vera sighed.

"Nothing," Dani said quickly.

Settling into her sleeping bag, Vera tried again. "Carol show you around the RV?"

"Yup." The response was abrupt and followed by a long silence. Vera had just about given up getting anything more out of Dani, when suddenly the younger girl spoke again. "Did you know that Sophia is Carol's daughter?"

Vera remembered the way the woman sobbed and buried her face in Lori's shoulder. "I kind of figured," she said.

"She ran off into the woods three days ago. She's only twelve," Dani continued softly.

Vera didn't know how to respond, so she didn't. Another silence stretched on until Vera heard the rustling of Dani's sleeping bag. The girl turned to face her sister, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Vee, d'you ever think maybe Daddy might've—"

"No," Vera interrupted, her voice firm and unyielding.

Dani's face crumpled. A few tears spilled over and she turned her back on Vera again. Vera sighed and put a hand on her sister's shoulder. Dani shrugged her hand off and tucked her body into the corner of the tent, out of Vera's reach. Vera listened to her sister sniffle and watched her shoulders shake with silent sobs, but she didn't try to comfort her again. It was a long time before either of them slept.

~0~0~0~

**End Note:** Kind of a sad note to end on, I know. But please review anyway! I wrote you a haiku to motivate you:

Please leave a review

Just type a few words and click

Improve my self-worth!

I promise that my fic-writing skills are much better than my poetry.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **_The Case of the Missing Man_ isn't a real book, so all excerpts from it are completely made up. I don't own anything else though.

Big thanks to all of my new story followers and to the following lovely reviewers: Alina Maxwell, LBeachy, Midnightxrose14, anonymous guest, cherryorpeach, Emberka-2012, Caffiend04, and GatorGirl99. I love reviews!

~0~0~0~

**Chapter Seven**

"_Look at me."_

_She could feel his breath on her neck. She squeezed her eyes shut._

"_Come on, now. Don't do that. I thought we had a connection, Bright Eyes." The hand on her wrists tightened. "You're beautiful, you know that? Men don't tell women that often enough. It's a damn shame. Chivalry is dead. But then again, dead doesn't mean much anymore, does it?"_

_She heard Dani's muffled scream off to her right, and her eyes flew open._

"_That's it. There are those pretty eyes. 'Course, that's not my favorite part of you. Not by a mile." He pressed himself into her. "You're almost too beautiful. Might have to do somethin' about that."_

_Metal glinted in the sunlight._

"Breakfast," Dani said, shaking her.

She inhaled sharply as she woke, causing Dani to jump.

"Jesus!" Dani gasped. "Nightmare?"

"I'm fine," Vera said, pulling herself upright.

Dani looked unsure, but she nodded. "Dale's cooking up some eggs if you want some."

She disappeared from the tent and Vera slowly crawled out of her sleeping bag. She clenched her fists to keep from touching her scar. Shaking her head, she quickly dressed and met her sister outside for breakfast. A little while later, she found Lori sitting by the chicken pen with Carl and walked over to them.

"Good morning," Lori greeted.

Vera smiled and crouched down next to Carl.

"I don't think we've met yet. I'm Vera," she said, offering her hand.

He shook it happily. "Carl. My mom told me about you. Happy birthday."

Vera's smile widened. "Did she also tell you that she made me a cake?"

Vera saw Lori grimace over Carl's shoulder and for a second she was confused. Then Carl whirled around to face his mother.

"You made cake and you didn't save me any?" he demanded, aghast.

Vera mouthed, '_Sorry!_' but Lori waved off her concern.

"I'll make you a cake on your birthday," she said calmly.

Vera decided that this was a good time to make her escape. "You know, I don't think I ever thanked Patricia. Is she in the house?" she asked.

"She was just here. I think she headed off in that direction," Lori said, pointing in the distance.

A short jog brought Patricia into view. The blonde was pushing a wheelbarrow down a dirt path.

"Patricia! Hey, do you need any help with that?"

Patricia abruptly dropped the wheelbarrow and spun around.

"No, I got it. Can I help you with somethin'?" She walked briskly towards Vera as she spoke.

Vera raised her eyebrows. "Oh, no. I didn't mean to interrupt you. Just wanted to say thanks for my birthday cake."

Patricia barely seemed to register her words. "Don't mention it," she said.

Vera frowned slightly. "Is everything okay?"

Patricia smiled tightly. "Yeah, of course. You goin' shootin' today?"

"Yup. Me and my sister."

"Well, maybe I'll see you there," she said.

She turned and walked back to the wheelbarrow without another word, leaving Vera with the distinct impression that she had been dismissed. She watched the blonde continue down the path towards the old barn, leaving her alone.

She walked back to camp and tried to locate Dani. Dale informed her that the girl was in his RV with Carol. She poked her head inside, but when both women glanced over at her with teary eyes she immediately excused herself. Vera had no idea what they were talking about, but she knew she wanted no part of it. She was never good at those sorts of conversations.

Everyone seemed to be doing something, and yet nothing else needed doing. Feeling aimless and out of place, Vera found herself walking towards Daryl's tent. Hershel had given him the all clear to leave the shelter of the farmhouse, and he'd jumped at the chance to get back outside. She found him lying on his cot, poking at the netting of his tent with an arrow.

"You'll ruin your tent," she said by way of 'good morning.'

He barely glanced at her. Instead, he stabbed the netting again and muttered, "Got nothin' else to do, laid up all goddamned day."

She rolled her eyes and invited herself inside. She could tell he wasn't happy about the intrusion by the way he narrowed his eyes at her, but he didn't say anything.

"Daryl, it's been all of two hours since daybreak. You have a hell of a lot of daylight left to spend."

She took a seat on the floor and pulled on the arrow. He let it go, watching her curiously. "Let's play a game," she said.

It was his turn to roll his eyes now. "Sorry, girl, but I ain't playin' no slumber party games. Go find your sister," he said.

"Oh, I'd never play this game with Dani. It'd make her head spin," Vera replied.

He sat up the tiniest bit straighter. "All right. I'll bite," he said.

"I'll get us started," she said. She cracked her knuckles and gave him an evil grin. "Would you rather have to go the rest of your life wearing a beanie with a little propeller on top OR speak in a chipmunk voice?"

Daryl visibly recoiled, giving her a look of horror. "The hell kinda game is this?" he demanded.

She couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. "Would You Rather."

"I'd rather just not play it," he grumbled.

"Baby," she accused.

Andrea chose that moment to pop her head into the tent. "Hey. Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"I was just about to leave fusspot over here alone," Vera drawled before getting up on her knees.

"Oh, fine. Chipmunk voice," he snapped.

Vera paused. She slowly turned to face him. Her jaw dropped a little and a grin spread across her face.

"What? You came up with the stupid question," he said defensively. He shifted on his cot and looked away from her.

She sat back down and kept grinning at him.

"Oookay. Clearly I've missed something," Andrea said.

"Just some dumb game," Daryl grunted.

Andrea raised her eyebrows, but didn't comment. Instead she held out a small paperback novel. "It's not that great, but maybe you'll read it when you get tired of your game?" she said hesitantly.

"What, no pictures?" Daryl asked, smirking.

Vera glanced at the cover. The author's name didn't ring any bells. _The Case of the Missing Man_, she read. She thought of her father. Of the last time she spoke to him, when he handed over the shotgun and told her he'd be back before dark. When she rejoined the conversation, Andrea was leaving.

"But hey," Daryl called out. "You shoot me again, you best pray I'm dead."

Andrea flashed him a smile and walked away. Daryl tossed the book aside.

"You aren't gonna read it?" Vera asked.

"Thought we were playin' a game," Daryl said.

Vera smiled. "It's your turn," she said.

Daryl sighed. "What are the rules?"

"There are no rules. Just come up with a question," she persisted.

He squinted in concentration for a moment. Then a smirk spread across his face. "Would you rather eat raw squirrel or ride a horse?"

Vera's jaw dropped again. She'd never told anyone about the horse bucking her at ten.

"What? I saw the way you give that big dumb animal a wide berth, like it's a walker or something," he said, clearly enjoying her surprise.

She pursed her lips and said, "Fine. Squirrel."

"Knew it," he crowed.

"Okay, my turn," Vera said quickly. "Would you rather lose a hand or a foot?"

She knew instantly that she had said something wrong. Daryl's lips curled downward and a crease appeared between his brows.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nothin'. Just think I might try this book after all."

She was flummoxed, but nodded. "Oh. Okay. Let me know if it's any good."

He grunted in assent. She exited the tent feeling worse than when she'd entered. Thankfully, there was work to occupy her. She found Dani alone by the dying embers of the fire and sat down to help her scrub the breakfast dishes.

"What were you talking to Carol about?" she asked her sister.

"Sophia. And Daddy," Dani said quietly.

They left it at that. It wasn't until a good while later that either one of them had a reason to speak. They heard Dani's name being spoken from a few yards away and decided to see what was happening.

"I don't see what that's got to do with anything," Lori was saying. She looked like she was squaring off with her son while her husband and Shane looked on.

"You say I'm too young to use a gun, but Dani and Beth are going for training and they're only four years older than me!" Carl replied.

"There is a _big_ difference between twelve and sixteen," Lori countered.

Rick stepped forward. He put his hands on Lori's shoulders. "Shane's the best instructor I know. I've seen him teach kids younger than Carl."

That last push was all it took. In short order, everyone piled into their vehicles; Jimmy, Patricia, and Beth in their truck; Rick, Lori, Carl, and Carol in the station wagon; and everybody else in Shane's Hundai.

"Littlest gets the bitch seat," Vera shouted, shoving her sister into the middle of the back. Andrea laughed as she closed in from the other side.

"Nice," T-Dog said from the shotgun seat.

Dani muttered some unflattering comments about the size of Vera's ass under her breath, but settled in for the ride. Shane told them about the time he stole the principal's car, and that kept everybody entertained for the short drive to the makeshift shooting range.

A few minutes into their lesson, Vera glanced to her left and saw Jimmy aiming his gun like a character out of a mafia movie. She turned to her right and saw Dani staring at the piece in her hands like it was a bomb with a lit fuse. Her hands trembled when she attempted to hold her weapon straight.

"Shut up, Vera," she bit out.

"I didn't say anything!" Vera protested.

"I can see you smirking over there. I haven't seen you hit your target yet," she sniped, not taking her eyes off her own target.

Vera gritted her teeth. It was true. Despite Shane's introductory tips and guidelines, Vera felt strangely out of her element. Her shotgun was a more solid piece of machinery. Without the ability to anchor the butt of the gun against her shoulder, she felt less in control. She'd come close to hitting the old soda bottle on the wooden post in front of her, but she always seemed to be a few centimeters off. It was frustrating. This was simple mechanics; angles, trajectories, recoil. This sort of thing should have been easy for her.

"All right, new girl. Show me what you got," Shane called out as he approached.

Vera turned back to the target and brought her hands up. Before she could pull the trigger, Shane interrupted her.

"Hold on, hold on," he said. "Keep your hips and shoulders square with your target."

Suddenly he was behind her, hands on her waist. Vera jerked away, only to have him tug her back into place by her hips.

"Now just wait a sec. Let me show you. Don't round your shoulders out. Keep everything in line."

She stood frozen to the spot as he released her hips and brought his hands up to her shoulders, turning her slightly.

"Now bring your arms up and shoot that target."

She could hear the blood pulsing in her ears. She just wanted to get this over with, to do what he said so he'd get away from her. She lifted her arms and pulled the trigger in one fluid motion. The sound of shattering glass barely registered in her mind. All she was truly aware of was the overwhelming sense of relief when Shane's hands left her body.

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Shane congratulated her.

She ignored him and focused instead on steadying her breathing. In and out. In and out. She berated herself for letting her nerves get the better of her. She knew that it was completely illogical. Shane was only trying to show her how to shoot. Still, it took a few minutes for her to fall back into a steady rhythm.

In the end, she was able to hit her target more often than she missed it. Even Dani didn't seem completely helpless. Andrea turned out to be the best shot of the bunch, which didn't surprise Vera terribly. This was, after all, the woman who almost nailed a headshot aiming at Daryl from clear across the farm. No, the biggest surprise was little Carl, who seemed to have inherited his father's good aim.

Just when she felt like she was ready to call herself a decent shot, Shane returned.

"Let me show you something to improve your accuracy," he said.

She felt her entire body tense, but she couldn't say no. How would she explain herself?

"There's a trick with your thumbs," he said, coming closer.

His arms were around her. His hands covered hers on the pistol. "See, you bring your shooting hand as far up on the grip as you can. Take the L-shape part of your anchor hand and match it up to the L-shape of the gun."

She heard shattering glass to her right.

"Point both of your thumbs toward the target." His hands drifted away from hers. They settled on her wrists. "Now just shoot."

She squeezed her eyes shut.

"It helps if you open your eyes," T-Dog called out.

"What're you doin', new girl? Come on and open those eyes," Shane said.

She could feel his breath on her neck.

"Vera?"

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" she shouted.

Shane let go immediately, but it didn't matter. Her heart was pounding. All she kept thinking was, '_You'll never hurt me again_.' Vera spun around and aimed her gun directly at Shane.

"Vera, hold on. Just look at me, girl. It's me. It's Shane," he said, his arms outstretched, palms facing out.

"What the fuck?" she heard T-Dog say.

"Vee, what are you doing?" Dani cried.

"Rick, do something!" Lori shouted.

Vera barely heard them. Her hands were steady as a rock. Her grip was perfect. Both thumbs pointed at his head.

~0~0~0~

**End Note:** Dun, dun, DUUUUUUN! Please review! It may encourage me to post the next chapter faster… I'm sorry. That was terribly manipulative of me. I'm like Lori whispering in Rick's ear all of a sudden. Mwa-haha!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter! Here's Shane's fate…

~0~0~0~

**Chapter Eight**

_Yeah, who's the big man now, motherfucker? I'll blow your fucking brains out. _

Shane took a step towards her. Vera cocked the pistol and he froze.

_That's right, asshole. Not another step. You'll never hurt me again. You think you can just put your hands on me? I'll _end_ you._

All of the sounds around her faded into a dim roar. She distantly registered shouting, but the noise of her own breathing and the blood rushing to her head overwhelmed her senses. She was in control. She would make everything right. This was revenge for what those assholes did to her. To Dani. To Dad. She would make him pay.

"Vee, for god's sake, stop!"

Vera blinked. Dani had appeared between the man and the barrel of her gun. What was she saying?

"It's _Shane_, Vera! What are you doing? Please just think!" Dani screamed.

It was as if her whole reality had been on pause, and suddenly Dani hit the 'play' button. She wasn't at camp with Dad and Dani. That was weeks ago. She lived on a farm now. She was at gun practice.

The sights and sounds around her came into full focus all at once. Carl's tearful face, Shane's look of bewilderment, Lori screaming at Rick to _do something_, _damn it_! With a jolt, she dropped her hand to her side, pointing the pistol at the ground. A second later, someone came from behind and gently disarmed her.

"Okay. We're all okay."

It was Rick. He calmly unloaded her pistol and handed it over to Shane, who was still staring at her, stunned. Vera felt equally stunned. For weeks, she hadn't allowed herself to go back to that day. And then it was like she was right back there, and she just wasn't thinking.

"I—I don't—" she stammered.

But what could she possibly say? They were either going to think she was completely insane, or some broken creature to be pitied. The latter sounded more unbearable.

"It's not her fault," Dani said. "We—"

"Shut your fucking mouth, Dani! It's no one's business!" Vera snapped.

Dani looked as if her sister's words had physically knocked her backwards. Her mouth snapped shut and she looked helplessly at her older sister. Vera just glared. She was angry; at her sister, at her father, at life in general. But mostly, she was furious with herself. She should have had her emotions in check. These people wouldn't let them stay now that she'd gone and done something so volatile.

"All right, sweetie. Just come with me. Let's go for a little walk."

Vera felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked over to see Lori gently ushering her away.

"Lori—" Rick started.

"We'll be fine," his wife replied. She flashed the sheriff her gun, trying to put his mind at ease.

Vera's outburst against her sister had taken her last bit of energy, and she allowed Lori to pull her away from the scene of her breakdown. She stumbled numbly through the tall grasses. The older woman steered them to a small clearing within sight of the shooting range, but far enough away that all they heard from the group was gunshots. She followed Lori's lead, sitting Indian-style in the grass. Walls of green surrounded them, making it feel ever more secluded. Vera exhaled slowly, finally feeling her shoulders relax. She felt Lori take her hand.

"So. When did it happen?" the woman asked.

There was no need to be coy. They both knew what she was talking about. What was the point in denying it anymore?

"'Bout a month ago. Maybe less. I don't know. Don't keep track of the days anymore," Vera replied. She was staring down at the grass, plucking at it with her free hand.

"Who was he?" Lori asked calmly.

Vera swallowed hard. "It was more than one," she said.

She heard Lori's sharp intake of breath. Vera gritted her teeth, waiting for the pitying words, the hugging, the commiserating tears. But they didn't come. Lori simply continued to hold Vera's hand, rubbing her thumb in a soothing pattern back and forth across her pulse point.

"Tell me what happened," she said quietly.

Vera paused. She honestly didn't know if she _could_ talk about it, even if she wanted to. But sitting in the grass with Lori, she suddenly felt like the rest of the world didn't exist. It was just the two of them, talking quietly.

"My dad was out hunting. He ran into some guy. Dave. A real sweet talker. He was originally from Pennsylvania, just like us. Said he'd been running alone for days without a bite to eat."

She frowned, remembering her first encounter with him.

'_Not enough people willin' to help each other out nowadays. You're daddy's a good man,' he said, smiling at Vera and Dani. _

"Dad brought him back to our campsite. Gave him a bite to eat. The whole time he was just smiling, thanking us for our hospitality. Dad even offered to let him stay with us. Said it'd be good to have another man around, but Dave said he was going to try to meet up with family. So we said our goodbyes and that was that. Only it wasn't." Vera closed her eyes.

"Take your time, sweetie," Lori encouraged.

When she was certain that she could speak without crying, Vera continued. "He came back with a group that night. All men. All armed. Eight of them. He decided to 'give the boys a treat.' That's what he said when they showed up at our tent."

"Eight?" Lori repeated. Vera could hear the horror in her voice.

"I think so. I don't remember how many exactly. I just remember…" Her voice broke off mid-sentence. She just couldn't complete the thought.

Lori filled the silence. "It's okay. If you don't want to continue…"

Vera shook her head. She was so close to finishing the story. She had to do it. Maybe it would be better to get it all out at once.

She swallowed hard, desperately trying to keep the tears from falling. "Dani screamed so loud. I know she was a virgin. It was so much worse for her."

"Did one of them do this to you?"

She felt Lori's finger trace along her scar and unconsciously jerked back a few inches. She brought her hand up to cover the ugly mark and nodded.

"And my dad…" A few tears escaped. Her free hand formed a first, ripping grass from the earth and crushing it in her palm.

"What about your dad? Did they kill him?" Lori asked.

She shook her head. It was so much worse than that. It was too awful to say. She could remember his eyes when it was all over; so distant and empty.

"They made him watch," she said in a tiny voice.

It was hopeless now. Tears streamed down Vera's face, and Lori pulled her in for a hug. Vera didn't resist. She buried her face in Lori's shoulder and let herself go. The shame, the pain, and the anger all came pouring out of her. She cried like she hadn't since she was a child. Her body shook with the force of her sobs, and after a few minutes, she felt exhausted. Even when she felt as though she had no more tears to cry, her body continued to shake in the older woman's embrace. Lori rubbed her back, soothing her like she was her own daughter.

"I wasn't even thinking about him. I just… reacted. I know Shane isn't like that," Vera murmured.

Lori didn't reply and Vera pulled back a little and gave her a questioning look. The woman seemed deep in thought, and it took her a second to realize that Vera was waiting for a response. She immediately pulled Vera back in for a hug.

"You're safe now, sweetie. No one here is going to hurt you," she murmured in the girl's ear. "The farm is safe."

"Everyone's going to think I'm crazy now," Vera muttered.

"Don't be silly," Lori said immediately. "Believe it or not, you're not the first person in this group to snap and point a gun at someone. If anything, this just proves that you're one of us."

Vera pulled back and let out a tiny laugh. The statement was so absurd that it took her a moment to figure out if Lori was serious, but it quickly became clear that Lori was being genuine.

"I have to ask you something, Vera."

Vera looked over at her, waiting.

"Is there any chance you and your sister could be pregnant? I'm assuming that these men, these monsters, they didn't use protection."

Vera swallowed hard. "Yeah. We don't know." This was the thought that had been plaguing her for weeks. "I used to be on the pill, but I stopped taking it when this all started. It didn't seem important." She let out a bitter laugh.

"We'll figure this out. No matter what," Lori assured her.

"I won't have one of their babies. If I am. I won't do it, Lori. And I won't put Dani through it either," Vera said fiercely.

"We'll figure it out," Lori repeated.

Vera nodded. She didn't know why she trusted the woman, but she did. Lori stood up and offered Vera a hand. She felt like she had just been hit head-on by a Mack truck. Her face was blotchy and every muscle seemed to ache from being put through the emotional wringer. And yet, when she allowed Lori to pull her up, she felt somewhat lighter. The woman put an arm around her and together they walked back to the group.

~0~0~0~

**End Note:** Friday was my birthday and none of you got me anything. I'm trying not to be hurt that you didn't magically intuit the date of my birth and know exactly what to send me. A review would make a great belated birthday gift though.

Just kidding! You are all amazing. I wasn't kidding about the review though. I never kid about reviews.


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